I am getting ready to remove some "excess" stuff from my 300 L6. One thing that is going is the EGR system. I have a carb spacer to replace the EGR spacer. I was looking at the fitting where the EGR tube connects to the exhaust manifold, and it looks like it is probably a standard pipe thread (maybe 3/4" NPT). Can anyone confirm this, or tell me what thread it actually is if not a pipe thread.
If it is a standard pipe thread, I will remove the fitting and put a pipe plug in its place. Anyone have any input on whether I should use a steel/iron plug or a brass plug?
Refer to the six cyl forum. Alot of posts say they run worse w/o the egr....something about the exhaust cools the super hot chamber and makes for a better combustion.
You run the risk of it pinging(detonation) without the EGR working. You may have to re-jet the carb, set the timing back, and or run a cooler thermostat it get it to quit pinging.
"I'm in the same boat as you...where did you get the spacer? "
I made the spacer myself. Having access to a machine shop has advantages.
Regarding the EGR, I am planing to switch to a cooler thermostat among other changes. As for the carb jetting, I will see how that turns out. Right now it has the stock Carter YF. The jetting is terrible already. I have had the top off of the carb about 4 times in the last 3 months tweaking the metering rod. I am getting close, but still not there. The YF is a lousy excuse for a carb anyway, so I plan to switch to an Offy C series intake, a 390 Holley, and Headman Headers.
Given the low compression of this engine, taking away the EGR is not going to be a big problem. With a 165 degree thermostat, the head temperature will be low enough, I think. It can be done with care. EGR came into vogue in the early days of emission restrictions. It lingered for decades, and now is being replaced by better engineering. My 1994 Toyota does not have EGR (from the factory). It has higher compression than my 300, and it runs a 195 degree thermostat.
The lower thermo will open the gate for cooler radiator coolant earlier, but the engine still seeks out it's equillibrium operating temp. You can't stop that.
"I'm in the same boat as you...where did you get the spacer? "
I made the spacer myself. Having access to a machine shop has advantages.
Regarding the EGR, I am planing to switch to a cooler thermostat among other changes. As for the carb jetting, I will see how that turns out. Right now it has the stock Carter YF. The jetting is terrible already. I have had the top off of the carb about 4 times in the last 3 months tweaking the metering rod. I am getting close, but still not there. The YF is a lousy excuse for a carb anyway, so I plan to switch to an Offy C series intake, a 390 Holley, and Headman Headers.
Given the low compression of this engine, taking away the EGR is not going to be a big problem. With a 165 degree thermostat, the head temperature will be low enough, I think. It can be done with care. EGR came into vogue in the early days of emission restrictions. It lingered for decades, and now is being replaced by better engineering. My 1994 Toyota does not have EGR (from the factory). It has higher compression than my 300, and it runs a 195 degree thermostat.
I will go over and search the 6 forum. Good idea.
Thanks for the input.
Sounds like you are prepared for the worst. I just want to make sure someone else reading this thread won't think they can run out and jerk the EGR off their engine, and not expect problems.
There is not one thing under the hood of any vehicle you can take off, without some sort of consequences.
For anyone who may be interested, here are the results.
As Franklin2 said, I also want to make sure that people reading this do not think that they can simply pull their EGR off and run. This is not a "How To", nor is it a "You should try this" post. Let me be clear that I am talking about a 1982 300. It has NO computer, the carburetor is NOT a feedback carb, it has NO oxygen sensor. You CANNOT get away with removing the EGR from an engine with a computer control system, with a feedback carb, or with an oxygen sensor. You simply can't do it. Don't try.
Disclaimer done, here are the results. Prior to removing the EGR, I was having problems with eratic idle and poor performance. This was not something new, it is something that I have experienced since I put the truck on the road a year ago. I had been thinking that most of the problems were with the Carter YF carb. I rebuilt it and things got better, but still not perfect. I tinkered with the metering rod in the carb and made things better still, but still not perfect. I decided that my problem might not be the carb. I checked a lot of things, like making sure the mechanical advance in the distributor was not sticking, making sure I had no wiring issues with the ignition module, etc. Finally decided it might be the EGR system. Since I am planing to go to a 4bbl and headers, I decided to remove the EGR system and see how it ran. The results were beyond my wildest dreams. After removing the EGR, it ran like an entirely different truck. I now have power and torgue like I had hoped to get with the 4bbl and headers. It runs smooth as silk and idles nicely. It used to fall flat on its face at 3000 RPM in 2nd gear (T18 - first is granny gear). Now it keeps pulling to 3500 RPM in 2nd.
Before you say, "EGR is a bad thing", let me say that the correct conclusion to draw from this is not that EGR is bad, but that I had a serious problem with my EGR system - most likely a sticking/leaking EGR valve.
Without EGR, the engine does ping very slightly under load at part throttle, but only after the engine is up to full temperature. This is no big surprise. I have not put a timing light on it yet, so it could be as simple as backing down the timing a few degrees. Also, I suspect that a 160 degree thermostat will take care of it anyway.
I just wanted to let anyone who might be interested know how things turned out.
If and when you put the 4bbl system on it, that will help get rid of the pinging too, since it will probably be jetted a little bit richer than the stock carb. The stock carb is jetted very lean for emissions, and to work with the egr system.
EGR's do often go bad, or get a piece of carbon stuck in them where they leak. If anyone else wants to see if their egr is faulty, just get a piece of aluminum flashing and rough out a solid gasket with scissors to block the egr off. Then see how it runs. You can then decide to buy a new egr, or go to plan B.
Just to make sure everyone realizes, the egr will not hurt full power output of the engine. The egr system works on vacuum, and there is no vacuum when the throttle is wide open. No vacuum also means the power system of the carb is activated, which also adds extra fuel in this situation.
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